‘Canal killings’ trial: Experts disagree on role of violent films in defendant’s behavior

Graphic films depicting cannibalism, rape, decapitation and torture have loomed large in the trial of Bryan Miller, the man charged with murdering two young women as they cycled along Phoenix canals 30 years ago.

But experts disagree on how being exposed to the films as a minor might have affected Miller and whether they played a role in the so-called “canal killings”.

Dr. Tina Garby, an expert witness for the state, testified under cross-examination Wednesday that Miller was sexually interested in myriad types of violence depicted in the pseudo-documentaries “Shocking Asia” and “Faces of Death.”

Garby, who said she spent last Saturday night watching the films, agreed there were similarities between various scenes and the violent pornography Miller consumed, sex acts he performed with his ex-wife and the injuries he is accused of inflicting on Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas in the early 1990s.

But, Garby said at other points in her testimony, it doesn’t follow that Miller was traumatized by viewing the films, that they caused him to become a sexual sadist, which she believes he is, or that they said much about his sexual interests at all.

“I’m not going to say they’re not similar, but we don’t know that just watching a movie leads to that,” Garby said, asked by Judge Suzanne Cohen how she could see all the parallels and not think the films played a role.

If it was purely a trauma response, Garby added, she would expect at some point Miller would cease to be aroused by the violence.

Films ‘too much’ for his psyche

Miller was charged in 2015 with kidnapping, murdering and attempting to sexually assault Brosso and Bernas.

Brosso was 21 when she was killed in November 1992. Her mutilated body was found by a bike path near her apartment by Cactus Road and Interstate 17. Her head was missing, located 11 days later in the Arizona Canal where it runs past theme park Castles N’ Coasters.

For subscribers:The man accused in the Phoenix canal killings goes to trial 30 years after 2 women died

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In September 1993, Bernas was found dead in the canal, not far from where Brosso’s head had turned up. She had the same fatal stab wound to her back as Brosso, and shallow cuts to her neck and chest.

The case ran cold for 20 years before new DNA analysis led police to Miller. According to evidence at trial, his DNA matched with semen found on the bodies.

He has pleaded not guilty for reasons of insanity, and has told multiple experts he has no recall of killing Brosso or Bernas.

Angela Brosso (left) and Melissa Bernas, victims of the Phoenix Canal Murders.

His attorneys say at the time of the murders, Miller was in the grip of a dissociative “trauma state,” a separate part of his consciousness where he stored his experiences of childhood abuse, and that his autism and immaturity rendered him unable to grasp that his actions were wrong.

Defense expert Dr. Mark Cunningham testified during the trial that viewing “Shocking Asia” and “Faces of Death” would have been “psychologically destructive” to Miller, whom he diagnosed as on the autism spectrum, suffering from a dissociative disorder, and as having PTSD from his mother’s abuse, among other things.

“This content is simply too much for his psyche to carry,” Cunningham said, as he argued the films had become part of Miller’s “deviant fantasy life.”

‘We don’t know’ cause of sexual sadism

Garby said this week she believed Miller was a sexual sadist — a person aroused by another person’s pain or humiliation — and has antisocial personality disorder.

This undated booking photo provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office shows Bryan Patrick Miller

She said she wasn’t aware of any research indicating watching films like those described could cause someone to become extremely sexually violent or turn them into a sexual sadist.

“We don’t know what causes it,” she said.

She said sexual sadism spills over into sexual sadism disorder when people either act out their desires with someone who doesn’t consent, or their urges and fantasies start to cause distress.

“They have a choice in what they do,” she said. “Sexual sadists don’t lose power over right and wrong and power to make decisions.”

Miller’s ex-wife, Amy, testified last week he had introduced pain and violence to their sex life in the early 2000s, which she went along with despite not being particularly keen on it.

Garby agreed under cross-examination that Miller had been in relationships, including the early years of his marriage and with other girlfriends, that involved no sadism during sex.

She also agreed that a former partner had testified Miller would leave the room in tears rather than force her into sex, and that he had written letters to Amy asking for her consent to various sex acts.

“Can we agree that at least many times Bryan’s behaviors, at different times in his life, are inconsistent with sexually sadistic behaviors?” asked defense attorney Denise Dees.

“He has behaviors that are not always sexually sadistic, of course,” Garby said. “Every sexual sadist does.”

The trial continues Thursday with another state expert.

Reach the reporter at lane.sainty@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter @lanesainty.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Experts disagree on violent films’ role in ‘canal killings’